Assessing Our Values

Reflection questions from a book I’m reading…
Do you recall a particular moment in your life when things were perfect? What was going on? Who was with you? Where were you, and what values were being honored in that moment?
This past spring I was riding in the Habitat Cover Indiana Bicycle Tour. It was a 6 day tour, riding city to city around the state raising funds and awareness of Habitat for Humanity and its mission for fair and just housing for all. A few of us riders liked to go hard and go long. One day we rode near the well-known Bean Blossom Hill nestled in the beauty of the Morgan-Monroe State Forest so another rider and I decided to add a couple of miles to the day’s route just to get it in. It was a spectacular spring day, cool, crisp and clear as can be. The trees were rustling gently as we approached her and it was a long slow pedal, especially that 3rd and final kick up, but we made it with an extra “Whaahoo!” at the top. Things were perfect!
Things were perfect because just two of us were “crazy” enough to do it. Things were perfect because all we had to do was get from point A to point B. Things were perfect because it was a tough climb. Things were perfect because climbing is always better with a friend. Things were perfect because I had never done that climb that early in the season. Things were perfect because I knew that people who need fair and just housing so often have a harder climb than I.
When things feel perfect we are likely experiencing a resonance with our values. When our values are honored we feel alive and fulfilled. Think about those moments for you. What was the quality that stood out to you? Were you valuing stability…change…strength…joy…empathy…hospitality…compassion? There are a number of reasons your moment was perfect, but there is indeed a special connection between your experience of that moment and the specifics that you value. That moment stood out to you because it resonated with what you hold most dear.
I’m hopeful that FCC Lufkin has had a productive interim period because they need to know and show what they value most when I arrive to join them in their work! I hope that First Christian can trust God with those perfect moments in their past and allow God to work in their present, and on their future! Together we will explore how those values have shaped their church and feed into their future.
I’m also hopeful that SCC will spend the next several months identifying its values in such a way as to define its future anew as well.
We know that in order to really make progress and change happen in our lives we must do the hard work of defining and redefining what is essential among our values! It takes healthy reflection to know who we’ve been, so that we might be able to imagine who God is inviting us to become!
What values do you see yourself honoring most? And what values do you see God inviting you to honor anew? I can’t wait to ride that hill again in 3 weeks!